FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates, in general, to lawn edgers.
Lawn edgers are frequently employed to remove vegetation, such as grass, plants, weeds, etc., from the edge of a sidewalk or other surface so as to provide a neat, trimmed appearance to a lawn. Such edgers include a wheeled frame having a power source, such as a gasoline powered internal combustion engine or an electric motor, mounted thereon. A rotatable output shaft of the motor is coupled to a rotatable cutter blade which is generally oriented perpendicular to the plane of the sidewalk.
While such previously devised lawn edgers work satisfactorily in removing vegetation from the edges of a sidewalk, such lawn edgers in the course of their operation create debris in the form of clippings or particles of the vegetation cut by the cutter blade. The cuttings or particles are scattered over the sidewalk by the high speed revolutions of the cutter blade and, if a neat appearance is desired, such cuttings or particles must be removed, either by manual sweeping or by the use of a separate, hand carried blower.
In an attempt to eliminate the need for separately removing the scattered cuttings or particles, several attempts have been made to mount a blower or fan directly on a lawn edger which generates a forced air stream which is directed outward behind the cutter blade. Such blowers have been separate fans driven by the edger motor. The air stream has also been generated by directing the exhaust gasses of an internal combustion engine on the edger behind and outward of the cutter blade.
While such edgers having blowers mounted thereon are effective in automatically removing cuttings or particles generated by the cutter blade from the sidewalk or other surface as the edger is moved along the edge of a sidewalk, such devices fail to address the problem of pre-existing debris on the sidewalk or adjacent to the edge of the sidewalk in the path of movement of the edger. Such debris can clog the cutter blade and thereby decrease the cutting effect of the blade. Such debris, i.e., leaves, papers, etc. can also become lodged along the edge of the sidewalk and be drawn into the cutter blade as the edger is moved along the edge of the sidewalk.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a lawn edger which overcomes the deficiencies of previously devised lawn edgers. It would be desirable to provide a lawn edger which automatically blows cuttings or particles generated by the cutter blade of the lawn edger off of a surface, such as a sidewalk, as such cuttings or particles are generated by the cutter blade. It would also be desirable to provide a lawn edger which generates an air stream in front of the cutter blade to prevent debris on or along the edge of a sidewalk or other surface from interfering with the cutting action of the cutter blade. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a lawn edger having these features which can be simply and economically manufactured.